What Happens to Your Body While Grieving?

Grief has apparent emotional effects. There are endless movies, songs, and books detailing how severe loss is on our minds: but it’s also difficult for our bodies. When we grieve, we go through a series of hormonal and physical changes that take some people by surprise. It’s important to let yourself grieve, though. Here’s how it might affect your body and what you can do about these symptoms.

Increase In Blood Pressure

Even with the best grief support, you may notice a rise in your blood pressure. This symptom can be shown through chest pain, feeling hot, or even feeling lightheaded. An increase in blood pressure can be hazardous if the grieving person has a history of heart problems or has had a stroke before.

For most people, it will pass within a couple of weeks of chest pains. There’s debate about whether this is because the symptoms wore off or if someone finally finished grieving.   

Lack of Appetite

Along with a raised heartbeat, many also experience a loss of appetite. Our stomachs feel like tight knots of uncertainty, and the idea of eating anything can leave us feeling nauseous. This is a normal part of grief, and there’s nothing wrong with the symptom besides the discomfort it can cause us.

This lack of appetite can eventually lead to weight loss, fatigue, and worse headaches than you could have before. To counter this, many turn to CBD oil to increase appetite- but the best cure is time and patience.

Inability to Sleep, or Sleeping Too Much

If your sleep schedule has been a mess while you’ve been grieving, you’re not alone. Many people note that after losing a loved one, they stopped being able to sleep well. Sleeping too little can cause significant health problems that can persist over time and can cause damage to your heart, giving you a higher chance of getting obesity or heart disease.

Too much sleep can also lead to obesity or cause diabetes down the line.

Physical Fatigue

Even if you’re not able to sleep, you may feel the physical fatigue associated with grief.  This deep-to-the-bone ache can leave people incapable of living their everyday lives. As a symptom, this usually goes away within two to three weeks, but it can cause weight loss, anxiety and can trigger other symptoms to flare up.  

Skin Problem Flare-Ups

If you’re prone to stress acne or have eczema or psoriasis, you will probably see a flare-up while you’re grieving. The main culprit of this is hormones, but a lack of personal care may also bring on this symptom after a loss. 

Many people forget to take prescription medication or fail to care for their bodies the way they did before they started grieving, and this can culminate in lousy skin. Luckily, once you get back onto your medication or skincare regimen, these symptoms tend to clear up quickly.

Grief is a full-body and mind affliction, and it takes time to work through it.  None of these symptoms are imagined or fake, and grieving people who deal with them know that better than anyone else.